


The Parker Luck

by Y_M_T



Category: Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-16 09:42:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28954401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Y_M_T/pseuds/Y_M_T
Summary: The life of a teenage student is turned upside down when Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider! With the death of his Uncle Ben, Peter uses his new-found powers to fight crime, but this Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man could never forsee the trials and tribunations he will have to endure. Unfortunately for him, the dreaded Parker Luck never let's a Parker down!
Relationships: Felicia Hardy/Peter Parker, Peter Parker/Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker/Mary Jane Watson
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	1. Issue #1: Shifting Tides Part 1

New York City, The Bar With No Name. It was a hub of gangs and criminals from all walks of life, yet thanks to the so-called "sanctuary" status, no fights were allowed to break out. Usually filled with patrons, Hobbie Brown was surprised to discover it empty. Hobbie walked inside, taking note of the large table that was placed in the middle of the large room where round tables usually were. Only two chairs accompanied the wooden table at either ends.

"You shouldn't have come here."

Hobbie walked towards the bar and sat down while the bartender, Deke, set a glass in front of him. Hobbie accepted the drink as Deke continued, "Tonight's not a good time. I hear we're getting important visitors. The type you don't want to get involved with."

Downing the drink in one go, Hobbie stayed quiet. Deke accepted the silence and began to clean the glass cup, waiting. Hobbie continued to sit there, as if mulling over things. Calculating probabilities. Weighing his choices. Deke poured him another drink, something stronger, and as Hobbie took the last gulp of the alcohol, so too did his hesitation.

"If they ask if anyone's here, tell them no. That's all I ask."

Deke sighed, yet accepted Hobbie's request. "Go before I remember you're here". Hobbie gave Deke an appreciative nod and headed towards upstairs where the bedrooms are located. Entering a random room, Hobbie grabbed the desk chair and placed it in front of the door. He sat and closed his eyes, waiting for the time to come.

Wilson Fisk was a patient man. He wouldn't have been hired as Don Rigoletto's bodyguard if he wasn't. Well that, and for certain other… qualities and skills he possessed. Still, Wilson considered his patience his greatest weapon, and now, as his boss ordered him to search the building for any threats, Fisk would show why it was so. Building trust was never an easy thing, especially so with someone of Don Rigoletto's reputation, yet being taken in by the man certainly made it easier. One of the Dons of the Maggia family would soon come to rue the trust he placed in a weak and fragile Wilson Fisk. 'To think I'm about to do this to the man who made me strong, to the man who gave me purpose in life.' Thought Fisk. A grin spread across his face. 'He would be proud'.

Coming up to the last bedroom in the Bar With No Name, Wilson prepared to meet his guest. Opening the door revealed a man in a purple and black suit sitting in a chair. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Fisk gave a nod and closed the door. The grin plastered on his face would disappear as soon as he reached the first floor and announced that the building was clear.

Meanwhile, Hobbie thought again of turning back. 'There's still time. I can leave right now, escape through the back door without being seen… No, I have to do this. For Abe.' With thoughts of turning back suppressed, Hobbie Brown stood up.

It was time to go prowling.

Peter Parker was not having a good time. Staying up late was a usual problem for a teenager, but staying up late because a whole city block was destroyed was a foreign concept to most. Just as he was about to get some shut-eye, his Spider-Sense had gone off like crazy! Confused and alarmed, it didn't take long for the Friendly Neighbor-hood Spider-Man to find the giant plume of smoke across the city. The block looked like a war-zone. People running away from the giant fires, screams of help and cries of pain. It took hours for Spider-Man to make sure anyone that could be saved was saved. Peter shuddered as he remember those he couldn't get to, those that were already gone by the time he got there. The bodies… The smell…

Peter jumped as a ruler was snapped to his desk. Looking up to see the angry face of his English teacher, Peter gave a weak smile as students around him laughed.

"Now that I have everyone's attention…" continued the teacher, Mrs. Hawthorn, as she rambled on about whatever it was that they were supposed to be studying. Peter honestly couldn't care. Looking down at his notebook, Peter caught the paper-ball that was aimed towards his face and turned to look at the grinning face of Flash Thompson who sat next to him.

"Parker, I didn't know you were into that. Wanna give me and the boys a few after school?" Whispered Flash to a visibly confused Peter. Seeing that Flash was still looking at him expectantly, Peter asked, "What do you mean?". An annoyed look flashed across Flash's face. "You think I'm dumb or something ('Yes')? Bro, you reek of cigarettes."

Peter stared incredulously at Flash, but decided not to say anything. Mrs. Hawthorn was already giving him another look. Instead he turned his attention back towards his notebook, where a sketch for a new device hungered to be finished. Flash threw another paper-ball at Peter, but he decided to let it hit him. There were more important things to worry about.

'What could've caused that massive fire last night? Firefighters at the scene speculated that it was a gas leak, but there was no sign of an explosion. No, it didn't look random. Did someone intentionally cause that fire? Were they hiding something? If so, what could be so important to risk the lives of hundreds of people? I better head there after school, see if there's anything can find.'

With a plan for his day complete (along with the usual patrols), Peter decided to finally focus on class. Then again, what lesson could 'American Kingpin' possibly teach him?

Elsewhere, Hobbie Brown met with Wilson Fisk for hopefully, the last time. Brown walked into the lobby at the top floor of the skyscraper, where a pretty assistant asked him to wait and offered him water. Hobbie declined and sat down in one of the large (and very comfortable) couches. Hobbie admitted that it was quite a sight; the large windows allowed him to see over all of Manhattan. The Empire State Building loomed over them from a distance. Hobbie couldn't help but think that Fisk hated not having the tallest tower in New York. 'Still, Fisk Industries is quite the sight'.

"Mr. Brown?". Hobbie stood up at the sound of his name.

"Mr. Fisk is ready for you.". Hobbie thanked the pretty assistant, Vanessa from the plaque on her desk, and entered Wilson's Fisk's office. The room was large yet surprisingly minimalist. Perhaps a sign of Fisk's upbringing? Yet the sense of power and intimidation that came from just having a desk at the far end of the room made it clear that Fisk knew what he was doing.

"… and have it ready by the end of the month! Henchmen these days… ah, Hobbie Brown, good to see you. I must say I'm impressed by your work." Said Fisk as he ended a phone call. Hobbie didn't deliver a response. He didn't want to think about what he had done the night before. Instead, he got right to the point for the reason he was there.

"Where is he?"

Fisk closed the laptop on his desk and closed his hands together in front of him, "Careful Brown. I'm not the Fisk of yesterday that bowed at the beck and call of an old man." Fisk stood as his words gained passion. He walked over to the windows which overlooked New York, hands clasped behind his back.

"For years, the residents of this city have been plagued by an endless current of crime and violence. Fathers worried about getting jumped and missing a month of work that would mean no income. Mothers praying that their sons and daughters come home from school safe. Children, roped into a life of crime that eats them and spits them out, but not before ruining the already bleak future they had. Do you think this is just?" asked Fisk as he turned to look at Hobbie. Hobbie continued to remain silent, yet the clenched fist in his jacket revealed some thoughts.

Fisk snorted before walking back over to his desk and sitting down. "Of course you don't. Then again, you know much about injustice. That's why you walk the path you do, why you would destroy a city block filled with people. It's for her isn't it? So many get trapped by her scent, her alluring eyes, and those bright red lips. But her name is revenge and she will never let you go. She will demand everything of you and give nothing back."

"What are you, some type of Kingpin?", Hobbie couldn't help but say mockingly. However, he was starting to worry. They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Hobbie memorized those eyes, memorized the hatred that was seeded deep withing the human named Wilson Fisk and for the first time since last night, regretted his actions.

"Where is he?" repeated Hobbie. No matter what happened over the coming days, it would no longer be his problem.

Fisk opened his laptop and turned the screen around. Hobbie grit his teeth at what he saw. On the screen was a location, and the address was his home. A place no one was supposed to know about. Wilson turned the laptop around and gave Hobbie a stone-cold glare.

"Now go. Don't let me see you again."

As Hobbie rushed out of his office, Wilson Fisk thought about what Hobbie said. "Hmm… it's pretty fitting isn't it? I like it. Soon, the world will know me as…"

"Kingpin!".

The bell couldn't ring fast enough. At least that's what Peter thought as students rushed out of their chairs and out of the classroom. The teacher yelled reminders of their homeworks but Peter doubted if anyone could even hear him over the sound of dozens of people talking with each other. It was their lunch break, and for a whole 30 minutes, students could just hang out and eat. Everyone except Peter. You see, he didn't have many friends.

"Well, no friends other than Harry, but he's out in a family trip with his dad somewhere in California. He won't be back for another week, which means a whole week of nothing but…"

"Hey Parker!"

Peter groaned and murmured, "Speak of the devil.".

"You say something?"

"Nothing! I just said that it's great to see you Flash."

Flash and his posse surrounded Peter at his locker. Flash quickly put his arm around Peter's shoulder, making Peter stumble a bit and drop his notebooks.

"You're happy to see me? That's kinda weird man. Anyway, about those cigs, you have any right now?" said Flash as he looked through Peter's open locker in search of a pack. Peter rolled his eyes as he swatted Flash's hands away from his stuff and responded, "I don't smoke Flash. And last time I checked, you don't either.". Finally, Peter closed his locker as soon as Flash moved his hands away.

"Yeah, well, there's a first for everything right? Besides, you smell like smoke, you can't tell me that ain't cigarettes."

"The smell? Well, it's because, um, my Aunt! Well, she… she uh… left the beans cooking while she stepped out the house. Yeah that's it! This right here is the smell of burnt beans infecting the house and our clothes with it's smell… of burnt beans."

Flash blinked twice before erupting in laughter as his friends followed suit. One of them, a jock whose name Peter couldn't even remember said, "C'mon Flash, of course Parker doesn't smoke. Nerds like him worry about chemicals or whatever. Hey, I think I heard that Paul is selling grams. Let's find him and…"

As Flash and his group left, Peter let out a sigh of relief. 'Flash must be in a good mood. He didn't even push me into the lockers this time.'. Peter turned around to pick up his notebooks but someone had beat him to it. Peter gulped as his cheeks turned red. Gwen Stacy, Peter's crush, was standing right next to his locker and had his notebooks. Heck, she was even reading one of them!

"Hmm, nice sketches."

Wait. She was reading his notebook. His Spidey notebook. The one with…

"Wow, you really like Spider-Man. It's kinda cute!", said Gwen as she flipped through the pages.

"Hey, can I get that… wait, you think it's cute?"

Gwen gave him a bright smile and presented his notebooks back to him. Peter blushed again and accepted his notebooks with a quiet "Thank you.". He stood there awkwardly, wishing he could say something. Anything. 'How about "Hey, my name is Peter Parker" That's normal right?'.

Before he could say anything, Gwen said, "Well, see you around Peter." And walked away. Peter watched her walk away, somewhat ashamed that he was staring at her posterior, before heading towards his own classroom. It was almost time for his favorite class, Mechanical Engineering. His professor, Dr. Otto Octavius, was a brilliant teacher and scientist. He and Peter got along excellently. Halfway there, Peter paused as realization hit him.

"Wait, she knows my name?"

Hours later, the students of Midtown High School were finally done for the day. Being a Friday, most students were planning what to do over the weekend. Peter, after waving shyly at Gwen from afar ('She waved back!'), was deciding whether it was worth it to actually return to the ruined city block.

'Maybe I'm being paranoid. It was just a fire in a residential district. Those happen all the time, right'. Peter debated as he headed towards a nearby alley where his Spider-Man suit and gadgets were hidden.

'Yeah, it's probably nothing. I'll patrol a bit then head home. I need to catch up on some sleep. I barely got any last night…'. Thinking about the giant fire last night made his thoughts freeze. All those people hurt or killed. Families forced out of their homes with all of their possessions lost. Family albums, precious memories gone, just like that.

'Jeez, what would Uncle Ben think if he learned I walked away from those people just because I wanted some extra sleep.'

With a clenched fist and renewed vigor, Peter Parker… No, Spider-Man jumped from the rooftop of a building and began swinging towards The Hell's Kitchen area. Feeling the wind rushing past him, Peter let out a cry of joy as he swung from building to building, sometimes catching serious air time. Other times he would swing low, near ground level, to really feel the speed. People would point at him and record him as he zoomed past, and Peter was all too happy to wave and pose. It was good to show these people that the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man was there to protect them.

The Daily Bugle. Home to Pulitzer-Prize winner John Jonah Jameson. The person in question was currently looking out the window of his office, enjoying a warm cup of coffee. What could put the notoriously grumpy J. Jonah Jameson in a good mood? The newspaper on his lap revealed it all. On the front cover of the Daily Bugle newspaper, in large bold letters, read " **AMERICA'S HERO: COLONEL JOHN JAMESON TO GO INTO OUTER SPACE!"**.

"Haha, my son is a hero! Of course, the Jameson blood always wins!" yelled out J.J.J. Outside his office, his personal secretary Betty Brant shook her head, exasperated. 'He's been rambling all day about his son. Will someone just shut him up?'. Immediately after, Betty jumped as she heard a scream from within Jameson's office. Rushing over, Betty asked, "What happened? Are you okay?". Seeing Jonah on the floor, Betty feared the worst (a heart attack from all his smoking) and tried to help him up.

"Bah! I can get up myself.", grunted Jonah as he slapped her hand away. Betty backed up and let him get up by himself, annoyed by his reaction. 'I guess he must be okay', she thought. 'Still, what could get him so riled up?'. Betty's inner question was soon answered as Jonah began to shake his fist to the air.

"That damned costumed freak! Who does he think he is running across my very expensive window? And look, he was trying to kill me! He was trying to burn me to death by having me spill coffee on myself, if the heart attack he purposely tried to give me didn't kill me first! He's a menace and I will find you or my name isn't John Jonah Jameson!"

Betty put her hand to her head as she felt a headache forming.

'Why do I have a bad feeling about this?'

"That's it, I'll give it one more look over and then I'm leaving." Said Spider-Man as he combed through the ruble of the once intact building. Peter didn't really expect to find anything, he wasn't even sure why he was so curious about this accident in the first place. However, something was telling him that whatever happened last night was important. It wasn't exactly Spidey Sense, it was more of a… feeling that he had. Maybe if he let it go and avoided whatever could be happening, it would pose no threat to him. Or maybe his whole Spidey Sense worked differently than he thought?

"My powers are still relatively new to me. For now, Spider Sense is a psychic ability that let's me see into the future? But it only warns me of danger when it's about to happen, so it's not exactly that. It's also not just when I'm in danger. Last night my Spider Sense went haywire due to the fire but I myself was never in danger. Maybe it's… wait, who is that?". Peter jumped into a nearby light post as he spotted a figure creeping around the wreckage. It was getting dark out, but Peter could still see the figure. It looked like a man clad in all black wearing a… motorcycle helmet?

"Wait, why is he wearing a motorcycle helmet when he isn't on a motorcycle? And where did he come from? I didn't hear any motorcycle nearby." Whispered Peter to himself.

Spider-Man continued to watch the figure from the vantage point. Motorcycle Man - as Peter dubbed him - was looking through the wreckage of what was once The Bar With No Name (as police identified it), specifically poking through the part that would have once been the bar. Motorcycle Man looked around as if confirming no one was around, then starting punching the structure of the bar.

"What is he doing? Was he a worker here or something?". Wanting a closer look, Spidey decided to come in closer. He couldn't web or crawl to the side of the buildings since they would fall apart, but the darkness around the was plenty for Spider-Man. He soon got as close as he could without entering the building and decided to wait there. In the time it took for him to do that, Motorcycle Man seemed to break through whatever material the bar table was made out of. He fit a hand inside and moved it about, obviously looking for something. After a few attempts, Motorcycle Man found something and cried out excitedly.

"It's like he found his hidden porn stash after his mom cleaned his room. Uh, not like I would know. Nope, not me".

Whatever he found, Motorcycle Man was looking to get out in a hurry. 'Maybe don't run in a burned building? What if…' Just then a wooden support fell on top of Motorcycle Man, hitting him in the head. 'And that boys and girls, is why we wear helmets in broken down buildings. Oh no, time to run!' Thought Spider-Man, and Motorcycle Man as the whole building seemed to be falling apart.

Peter was about to pull Motorcycle Man to safety with his webs when he noticed that Motorcycle Man was pretty fast himself. Soon, the whole building collapsed, leaving Spidey no way to investigate what the guy was looking for.

"Well, time to catch the guy.". As soon as he said that, he somersaulted all the way to Motorcycle Man who was running away into the street. Spider-Man landed in front of him, startling Motorcycle Man. Spidey put his hands up in a peaceful manner and said, "Whoa there Motorcycle Man, I'm not here to check out your ride. I just wanna know what it is you found in there.".

Motorcycle Man tensed up even more. "He sent you didn't he? Well, tell your boss that he should have been more careful before messing with da Family!" said Motorcycle Man before throwing out a punch right to our hero's jaw. Spider-Man easily dodged the blow and backed away a bit.

"Slow down there M.M, I just want to know if someone purposely caused this fire?". M.M put the object - a flash drive - into his left pocket before charging towards the street. "You think you can trick me huh? Well, tell Kingpin that he'll get what's coming for him. He wants a war? He will get one!".

"Wait! War? What war? Whose Kingpin? Ah, dammit.". Spider-Man watched as they guy got into the car, intending to follow him to his secret lair. Instead, Peter watched in shock as lightning seemed to surround the car, followed by something Peter would never think was possible. The car transformed right before his eyes from a simple Ponda into a tricked out race car! "Wait, what just happened? Are those rocket boosters?!"

M.M rolled down the window and laughed out loud as he gave the middle finger to Spidey.

"So long sucker! By the way, the names Overdrive!" And with that, Overdrive sped off in a speed Spidey wasn't sure he could catch up to. Peter was left hanging, open-mouthed, at what he just saw.

"Was that my first villain?".

"Master, Overdrive has arrived."

"Good, let him in."

Overdrive walked in as soon as the door opened. Seeing his boss waiting for him, Overdrive gave a small vow before reaching for the item he was sent to retrieve.

"I got the flash drive right here boss."

"Good, you have done well. Were there any complications?"

Overdrive scratched his butt as he answered, "Not much. Just some costumed freak poking his nose where it don't belong. He was asking about the fire, thinks it was more than a gas leak. Haha, well he would be right, but he'll never know."

His boss sat up in thought. After a few seconds, he responded, "And did you deal with this nuisance?"

Overdrive let out a small cough. "Well, you see, he seemed kinda young, so I just warned him, ya' know? I event acted like I was part of the Maggia to make sure it wouldn't trace back to us."

His boss stood up and walked towards one of his cabinet where a picture of his family was proudly displayed. "Next time, kill him. We can't take any chances."

Overdrive gulped as he felt the energy coming off his boss. "Yessir. Shall I deliver the flash drive to one of the Maggia heads?". His boss grabbed the frame of the picture before placing it face down.

"Do it. With the surveillance footage, they'll know it was Kingpin and that Prowler figure that killed Don Rigoletto. The Maggia will have no choice but to wage a war on the traitor Wilson Fisk, who is also amassing an army of low-life scum. Soon, they will destroy each other and only I will be left to pick up the crown. Only I will control the underworld!"

Overdrive shook in fear as the energy his boss was giving off overwhelmed him. Quickly giving a shaky vow, Overdrive left the room to go secretly deliver the flash drive to a low-level Maggia member.

Now alone in his office, the man put back the picture to it's original position.

"Forgive me father, mother. I did not want you to see me like that. Don't worry, soon I will have my revenge. Soon, this will be over."

"I promise."


	2. Issue #2: Shifting Tides Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey ya'll, so here's Issue #2 of my Spider-Man story. I'm drawing from all Era's of Spider-Man comics and movies and games. I'm mixing in everything I know about Spider-Man into this story. I'm not the most knowledgeable on Spidey comics, so forgive me if I don't know every backstory and such. That being said, I am mostly making up my own backstory for these characters, as you might see with the Kingpin here. I'll have the story itself expand on that. The one thing I did want to talk about was the shipping. I'm debating on making this a harem/multi fanfiction or having Peter here with only one person. I'm ok with both those options, but I would like to hear from you. Anyway, sorry for this long Author's Note, I'll go away now.

“Great, instead of getting some answers all I got was more questions,” sighed Peter as he lay his head against his desk at home. Peter had just returned from his little investigation and after a wonderful dinner with Aunt May, decided to try to figure out what had just happened. Grabbing his Spidey-book, he tried to connect events and times, faces to names, but all he had were loose threads.

“Okay, so a massive fire burns down a whole block and after everything settles down, a super-powered guy named Overdrive goes looking for something - a hard drive - which he manages to find. Apparently, someone named Kingpin was also looking for that drive.” Peter sighed and leaned back on his chair while he toyed with a pen by sticking it to his finger and pointing it down.

“Kingpin… I haven’t heard of him before. A new thug that thinks he’s the next Maggia wannabe? Wait, the Maggia! I bet they know something, they run the streets after all. I’ll go round up some crooks I know that work for them, maybe they can tell me something…”.

Turning to look out his window, Peter yawned and stretched out his arms. “Eh, I’ll go tomorrow, I need to catch up on some sleep.” Peter stood up and as he reached to close his Spidey-book, he remembered what he had been working on recently. He flipped over to the pages that contained one of his many ideas and sat back down.

“This could’ve really helped me with that Overdrive guy back there. If I see him again, I wouldn’t even have to chase after him. Hmm, maybe I should finish the design…”.

It wasn’t until 2:00 A.M that Peter finally went to sleep with a satisfied smile. On the desk, the finished prototype of his new Spidey-Tracker lay, waiting to be used.

The next morning, Peter surprised himself by actually catching the bus in time. He had forgotten the feeling of sitting in a crowded vehicle as teens talked and threw things at each other (more often in the direction of Peter than not), but it sure did beat wasting precious Spider-Fluid to get to school. As Peter stepped off the bus his phone vibrated. Checking his phone, Peter was surprised to see that Harry had messaged him. 

‘He’s coming back three days earlier? Nice, but I wonder what happened? Mr. Osborn isn’t the type to change his mind.’ Thought Peter as a small smile graced his face. 

“You should smile more.”

Peter jumped as a sweet voice called out next to him. Peter turned to see his crush, Gwen Stacy, standing right next to him with her arms crossed over her chest.

‘Eyes up! Eyes up!’

Peter gulped before giving out a weak “Hey…” and put his phone away. Gwen smiled and turned to walk ahead, signaling him to walk with her. Peter stumbled a bit (stupid spider-balance, where’d you go?) before catching up to walk slightly behind her. Peter’s eyebrows rose in confusion. They had never talked before and even though Peter was all too happy to talk with her, he was still confused on why she would talk with him. They walked in silence for the next minute until Gwen finally stopped at her locker. She opened it and took out a sheet of paper from her folder.

Turning to face Peter, she handed the folder to him and said, “I’m starting a tutoring club and I want you to be in it. Inside you’ll find the club form.”

Peter accepted the folder and opened it. It was exactly as she said, a form to sign up as a tutor after school for those who needed it. “Wait, why do you want me?” asked Peter.

“Well, considering you’re at the top of our school in grades, I figured you’d make a great addition to the team. Besides, this will be reflected in our transcript when we go to college and Dr. Otto said that it’s a pretty good thing to have”.

Peter thought about the offer. It would only be two times a week for three hours according to the form. It wasn’t bad, but…

“But what? I see that look on your face. Think about it Pete, it’s a great opportunity!” Gwen said as she finished putting stuff from her bag into her locker. Seeing that Peter was still hesitating, she went for the finishing move.

Leaning forward a bit, she made sure she had his attention, before continuing “Plus, we’ll get to spend a lot of time together. I’ve always wanted to meet the guy whose keeping me from that #1 spot in grades.”

Peter blushed as his eyes wandered towards her cleavage. Was she doing this on purpose? His eyes darted back towards hers as Peter blushed. “Sure!” he finally squeezed out after a brief pause.

“Yes! Thank you, trust me you won’t regret it.” Squealed Gwen as she gave Peter a hug. Realizing that she may have gone a bit too far, she backed away with a blush of her own.

“Make sure to turn that in to Dr. Otto, he’ll be our supervisor. Thanks again Pete, see you around!”

Peter watched dumbstruck as Gwen waved bye, his blood still rushing to his head (both of them!). 

“What did I just get myself into?”

~ ~ ~

By the time school was over, Peter was exhausted. He had gone ahead and turned in his application to Dr. Octavius who accepted him immediately. For the rest of the day, people were giving him weird looks and Peter just couldn’t figure out why. Even Flash of all people avoided him today. If Harry were there, he would explain to Peter why everybody was acting strange, but he wasn’t and Peter didn’t have any other friends. Well, maybe Gwen was one. Maybe. But the only time he saw her was during lunch and she was with her group of friends, so Peter decided not to bother them.

The tutoring business wouldn’t start until the next week so Peter decided to go on patrol before going home. It wasn’t for long, he stopped two muggings and helped an old lady cross the street. Peter smiled and waved at onlookers taking pictures with their phones. The real sight-seeing would start after dark. 

Peter changed to his normal clothes on a small rooftop near his home and walked the rest of the way. He soon reached his house but something made him pause. A moving truck was parked on his neighbors drive-way. Mrs. Anne Watson’s house, and old friend of his Aunt. Shrugging his shoulders, Peter opened the door and greeted his Aunt, who was preparing something delicious. Peter kissed her cheek before asking, “What’s with the moving truck at Aunt Anne’s place?”.

Aunt May kissed him back before giving him a secretive smile. “Oh it’s nothing my dear. Anne’s niece is moving in with her. She’ll get here tomorrow night. I’m going to prepare a large welcome party, so make sure you’re here by 8.”

Peter rolled his eyes. He knew that tone of voice. His Aunt was playing matchmaker again. “I’ll be sure to give her a good surprise then. I’m going upstairs to study, call me if you need anything.”

“Dinner will be ready in an hour!” Peter heard as he climbed up the stairs. He entered his room and made sure to close and lock his door. Knowing that he would only be able to sneak out after eating dinner, Peter spent the next hour fabricating another Spidey-Tracker, bringing his total up to two. After a delicious dinner, Peter jumped out his bedroom window his iconic blue and red suit.

Most nights Spider-Man would swing throughout the city, stopping crime when he heard or saw something. However, tonight he was looking for specific criminals. The Maggia was an international crime syndicate, usually headed by families who vied for control over their regions. In New York, there were five families that dominated the scene. The Fortunato Family, the Nobili Family, the Rigoletto Family, the Silvermane Family, and the Nefaria Family. While not hostile with each other, the families rarely worked together and would deploy shadow wars with each other to quietly take control of each other’s territories.

“While the heads of Families enjoy a life of luxury, it’s the innocent families that face the consequences.” Spat out Peter as he swung from building to building. He was headed to Hell’s Kitchen, an area controlled by the Fortunato Family. 

“I’ll look around, see if I can catch any members of the Fortunato’s, see if they know what’s going on.”

Five minutes later, Spider-Man was perched on a rooftop overlooking a decent chunk of Hell’s Kitchen. He scanned the surrounding area for another few minutes before deciding to go to a different spot. Spider-Man would continue doing so for the next hour as he tried to find his next targets.

~ ~ ~

Matt Murdock was not having a good day. Things at his law firm Nelson and Murdock were not going well. Trying to start a law firm with no reputation in New York was a difficult thing to do, especially so since Matt nor Foggy (the Nelson in the name) had connections. Still, they had been trying their best and had even recruited a pretty assistant called Karen.

However, business was dry and Matt had been spending the entire day going door to door, offering his business card to whoever accepted it. It was late at night when Matt ran into trouble. He had just finished eating at a local restaurant and was heading back to his office when he was jumped. 

The two thugs thought him easy prey, considering that he was walking around with a cane and red glasses at night. This allowed Matt to escape into an alley where he could beat them up without anyone in sight.

He stopped at the dead end, pretending to be scared. He heard them stop near him and slowly approach him.

“C’mon man, just give us all your stuff and you can walk away pain-free.” Said the thug in the front. Matt scoffed in his head, he could “see” the crowbar in the man’s hand. Meanwhile, the other thug was lagging behind, making sure that no one entered the same alley.

Matt decided to stay quiet and prepared to take down the thug in front of him. Just as he was about to launch himself to the man in front of him, he heard another heart-beat above them. A figure was hanging above them, watching. Next thing Matt “saw” was the man push out his arm and extend back towards himself. Surprisingly, the thug watching the alley-way was pulled into the air without making a sound. The figure then wrapped the thug in a cocoon of something on a light post, all without making a sound.

“Well, what’s your choice blind man?” Said the thug in front of him, unaware that his partner had been incapacitated.

Seeing the figure above move in, Matt gave the man a smirk. “See you in court buddy.”

The thug gave out a “huh?” before he was hoisted up into the air by non other than our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Spider-Man set the goon on the roof and webbed him to the floor before going back towards Matt.

“You alright there? Oh, you’re blind right? Sorry, my name’s Spider-Man, I can walk you out of here if you need help.” Spidey said as he retracted his hand. 

“Spider-Man? I’ve heard of you before. Thanks for the save and for the offer, but I can handle myself just fine.”

Spider-Man gave a nod of acknowledgment, realized that he couldn’t see the gesture, and gave an embarrassed “No problem”. Right before he zipped away to the tied up goon above, he was stopped by Matt.

“Hey… Why do you do it? This hero business I mean?”. Inside the mask, Peter blushed at being called a hero. As Spider-Man, he thought for a moment before giving an answer.

“Because it’s my responsibility. One day I woke up with these powers and did nothing with them. I was selfish and arrogant and it cost me a loved one. That’s when I realized that with great power, comes great responsibility. I could’ve prevented my uncle’s death, but I wasn’t there for him. So now, I vow to all people of New York that I will be there for them. That there is someone out there looking out for the small guys. It’s my responsibility.”

Matt listened to the surprisingly young voice and was secretly admiring this Spider-Man. He couldn’t have been more than 18, not even an adult yet he was out here, fighting criminals. Matt gave Spider-Man a smile and reached into his pocket.

“Take this. It’s my business card. If you ever run into any legal trouble, give us a call. I promise to to everything my team and I can to help you out.”

Spider-Man accept the card before swinging away. Matt gave out a sigh as he thought about the young hero.

“Doing everything I can, am I? With great power… Comes great responsibility…”

Up above, Spider-Man finished interrogating the thug. He wasn’t part of the Maggia, but he did know something worthwhile. Apparently the Maggia families were shaken up about something that happened recently. The five Maggia territories were going on the defensive. Most Maggia goons were told to wait for orders.

Finally, the thug said that someone called the Kingpin was gathering criminals. No one knew who he was and most didn’t take him seriously, but perhaps he had something to do the Maggia’s strange behavior. Spider thanked the man by not knocking him out cold, before webbing him up with his other goon. He called the cops to report a crime and left a note with the captured criminals - a smiling Spider-Man face - before heading home. It had been a long night.

On the way, Spider-Man saw a few cop cars heading to the same direction. “Weird, I wonder what’s going on? My Spidey-Sense hasn’t warned me of anything… I’ll go check it out before turning in for the night.”

So he followed the cop cars to what seemed like a scene of a crime. He perched on a nearby lamp as he tried to figure out what happened.

“Captain Stacy, nearby security camera’s are all offline. Unfortunately, we have no idea who did this.” A pretty Asian officer approached the so called Captain Stacy. 

‘Wait, Stacy? Blond hair, last named Stacy, couldn’t be right?’

Captain Stacy nodded, “Understood Watanabe. Make sure the zone is cordoned off. I don’t want any media inside until we figure out what happened.” Watanabe gave her affirmative before running to check on the other officers. Captain Stacy sighed before he turned around and stared directly at our resident Spider-Man. Spidey froze at being caught and waved hello.

“Spider-Man, glad you could join us. Why don’t you come down here, I have an offer for you.”

Spider-Man stared at Captain Stacy in confusion. A member of the police offering to work with a known vigilante? ‘It’s a trap!’ thought Peter. ‘But my Spidey-Sense isn’t going off… Maybe it’s legit?’

Peter hesitated for a second before jumping down to the floor. 

“What can this friendly neighborhood Spider do for ya Mr. Officer Sir?”

Captain Stacy chuckled before putting on a serious face. “We got a complaint about a foul smell coming from this house. My officers arrived on the scene and found the body of Abraham Brown. His body… well let’s just say it was hard to identify him. Brown was let out of prison early two days ago on good behavior. We tried to contact his last remaining relative Hobbie Brown but we couldn’t fin him.”

Peter grimaced at the thought. “Well, what do you want me to do?”.

“On the scene we found a card with the name Kingpin on it. I’m guessing that whoever this Kingpin is will give us answers. The only problem is we don’t know who that is. Hell, we’ve never heard of a Kingpin before. I’m worried that this is another wannabe gangster who thinks he can bring back the good old Maggia glory days. Find this Kingpin, that’s all we ask. We’ll take care of the rest.”

‘Kingpin again. He sounds like a tough guy. Should I actually go looking for someone this dangerous? Sounds like I’m in over my head.’ Peter debated over the decision in his mind. ‘No, I have to do this. Just like I told that blind guy, with great power…’

“I’ll do it. I’ll find this Kingpin.”

Captain Stacy gave a smile, one that seemed truly genuine to Peter. “You’re a good person Spider-Man. No matter what the media says, know that some in the police force support you.”

Peter smiled though his mask, feeling truly touched. Peter nodded and gave a salute. Stacy nodded and gave one back. Captain Stacy then turned around and yelled, “Watanabe, bring me the phone!”. Watanabe came from out of no where and handed Captain Stacy a phone, which he then handed to Spider-Man.

“Take this, it’s an untraceable phone. Corporal Watanabe here will be our liaison to you. If you find out anything, contact her.”

Peter stared at Watanabe. She was an Asian-American lady, about 25 years old from what he could see. Peter thought she was quite beautiful, and was suddenly glad that she couldn’t see his roaming eyes behind the mask. 

Peter coughed and waved at her. “Nice to meet you Miss Watanabe, name’s Spider-Man.”

She ignored him and turned to Captain Stacy. “You sure this is a good idea? If the media or the police find out that we’re working with a vigilante, a vigilante with pajamas no less (”Hey!”), they’ll have us both fired.”

Captain Stacy gave a smirk, “That’s why they won’t find out, right Yuri?”. Yuri Watanabe sighed and nodded. “Yes sir.”.

  
Turning back to Spider-Man, Stacy said, “I think it’s best you go. Don’t want to many people to see you talking to us. Take care Spider-Man, and thank you.”

With that, Spider-Man zipped away with conflicting thoughts. Times are changing, the tides are shifting, and Peter didn’t know if he was ready for the waves.


	3. Issue #3: Shifting Tides Part 3

Peter didn’t have much sleep that night. Thoughts about the mysterious Kingpin and the Maggia Family kept him up worried, nervous about the future that might unfold. Peter fought crime, sure, but never on this scale. Here was a 16 year-old about to get in between a gang war. Eventually Peter did get some shut eye, hoping that Friday would be good to him.

‘Waking before the alarm has to be the price to pay for my good ole’ Spidey-Sense.’ thought Peter as he turned off the alarm before it could go off. Peter stood up and stretched with a yawn before he headed towards the bathroom for his morning routine. 30 minutes later, Peter came downstairs to the delicious smell of eggs and bacon. 

“Morning.” Said Peter as he kissed his Aunt hello. Aunt May greeted him back with a smile and set down her nephew’s plate before fixing her own. They spent a lovely breakfast together and much too quickly in Peter’s mind, headed off to school. As he was leaving, his Aunt reminded him, “Remember dear, be here by 7! Don’t want to be late for the welcome party. Trust me.”

“I’ll be sure to be here on time Aunt May. Love you.” Said Peter as he boarded the bus to school. 

The ride there was as chaotic as always. The Friday vibe never disappointed as everyone was excited for the weekend. Soon, they reached the gates of Midtown High ands as Peter descended from the steps off the bus he was greeted by a lovely face. Gwen Stacy stood in front of him wearing a cute skirt showing off her long legs and a black top. Peter gulped as he greeted her. 

“Hey, Gwen. Good morning?”

Gwen smiled and laughed. “Did you add a question mark at the end? Good morning Petey, I was wondering if we could talk about the tutoring club.”

‘Did she just call me Petey?’ “Um, sure. I just need to go to my locker real quick.”

Gwen turned to stand next to him and they both began to walk together. ‘Oh man, get your shit together Parker! Don’t mess this up. Don’t mess this up…’

Peter paused in realization and turned to ask Gwen, “Hey, is your dad a cop by any chance?” Gwen turned sharply to face Peter and with narrowed eyes asked, “Yeah, why?” She crossed her arms over her chest and stared down at Peter.

Spider-Man gulped in fear. “Well, I only heard recently, that um… your dad was a police officer, and that’s cool you know? So I was just wondering…if that was true.” Peter started to sweat as Gwen continued her ice-cold stare-down. Just as Peter was about to crack and ask what was wrong, Gwen burst out in laughter.

“You should see the look on your face, Pete. It’s great!” Peter let out a sigh of relief as her laughter died down. He continued to stare at her face though, finding her blue-eyes beautiful. She…

“…look cute when you laugh.”

Peter froze in shock as Gwen too froze.

“Did I just say that out loud?”

‘Oh man, I did it now. She’s gonna think I’m a creep or something. Way to fumble the bag Peter.’ A blushing Gwen however, gave Peter a bright smile as she said, “Thanks Pete.” She then proceeded to turn around and continued to walk towards his locker. Peter caught up after a second, still amazed that he got away with that.

“Sorry about that little prank. It’s just that, usually when a boy asks me about my dad, he is trying to find out if he really is a cop to not ask me out. Too scared of the dad-cop to even try.” Scoffed Gwen. Then she gave Peter a little smirk. “Glad to know you’re not a boy.”

Peter blushed even more (if that was possible) and rubbed the back of his head with one hand, embarrassed. “Well biologically, I am still… I’ll shut up now.” Gwen laughed again and Peter realized that he loved seeing that smile. They spent the rest of the small trip to his locker discussing the tutoring club, with Peter all but forgetting his future troubles.

“Peter, could you stay a while after class?”

Peter looked up from his paper and gave a nod to his teacher, Dr. Otto Octavius, before returning to his work. It wasn’t rare that Doc Ock (as Peter liked to call him) asked him to stay after class. They usually discussed what came out in the Science Mag or what new invention Stark or Reed Richards came out with. Ten minutes later class was over and as students rushed out to enjoy their lunch, Peter waited patiently in his chair. As soon as the class was cleared, Parker headed to Doc Ock’s desk.

“You wanted to see me Dr. Otto?” asked Peter. Otto finished typing something on his computer before turning to Peter with a smile. “Peter, I’m glad you decided to join the Tutoring Club with Miss Stacy. I’m sure the school will see a raise in the average GPA in no time.”

Peter chuckled in embarrassment. “I don’t know about that sir. There’s only so much we can do.”

“A-ha!” Octavius exclaimed as he clapped his hands together. “That’s the problem isn’t it? We are limited in what we can achieve in our current position. I know your mind Peter, it’s one of the most brilliant out there, rivaling the likes of Stark and Reeds! Peter, I know that one day you will change the world for good.”

Peter stared in awe at the man. No-one other than his family had ever given him so much praise. Sure he got called a hero as Spider-Man, but as Peter Parker? 

“I-I don’t know what to say Doc…”

Octavius gave Peter a smile. “Just keep doing what you’re doing Peter. You’re doing great.”

Otto patted Peter on the shoulder before he turned around and put his hands against his desk. “I will admit that there is some… bad news. I’m afraid that I will be leaving Midtown High at the end of the school year. Instead, I will be starting my own company: Octavius Industries.”

Peter’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “How is that bad news? That’s great Doc! Your company is going to be great, especially with you leading it.”

“Yes, I suppose so. Peter, not to be too forward but I want to do this before other’s see your potential. I want you to work for me as soon as you graduate in two years.”

Now this was something Peter did not expect. These past few months, Peter had completely put aside the issue of his real identity. ‘What should I do in the future? Not as Spider-Man, but as Peter Parker? I honestly don’t know, but…’

“I would love to work for you Dr. Octavius. It would be my pleasure.” Said Peter as he stretched out his hand. Otto smiled and accepted the handshake. 

“No Peter, it would be mine.”

The rest of the school day was uneventful. Peter was still confused as to why Flash and co. were still avoiding him (not that he minded), but chose not to look a gift horse in the mouth. As soon as the bell rung Peter was out of school, ready to begin his hunt for the Kingpin. Already planning and excuse for his Aunt, Peter was stopped just as he was about to cross the street.

“Hey Pete! Come here!”

Peter turned around to find Gwen Stacy waving at him, signaling him to come over. Peter looked around him to see if there was another ‘Pete’ around him, before he started heading over.

‘Gwen Stacy is calling for me after school? I wonder what she wants? It’s probably tutoring club stuff… Wait, she’s with her friends and she’s calling me over? Oh boy…’

Peter’s hands were starting to sweat as he approached Gwen. He could that her friends were staring at him like hawks looking at prey. “Hey Gwen, what’s up?”

“We’re gonna go eat, wanna come with?” Beamed Gwen as she put her hands behind her back. 

Peter stared wide-eyed, not believing what he heard. ‘She invited me to eat? Like… like as in a date?’ Peter shook his head as if to dispel his thoughts. ‘A date? Please, she’s just being friendly. I can tell that her friends don’t really want me to come. Besides…’

Peter frowned as he said, “Sorry, I-uh, I promised my Aunt that I would help her around the today.”

Gwen let out an “aww” in disappointment, then put a finger on her chin in thought. After thinking for a second, she let out a wide smile.

“How ‘bout tomorrow? It’s Saturday so there’s no school. We can go out for breakfast!”

Peter gaped at her suggestion before gulping. Behind Gwen, one of her guy friends (Paul… Something?) also looked incredulous and jealous towards Peter.

“Umm… Y-yeah, I can do tomorrow.”

Gwen clapped her hands together as if to seal the deal and pulled out her phone. “Great! Give me your number and I’ll text you where to meet up tomorrow.” Peter gave her his number, still not fully conscious. Gwen made sure she saved the number before turning around, heart beating fast. She hid her blush as best she could from her friends and turned around to give Peter a wave-goodbye. Peter waved back dumbly and watched as the group left for the restaurant, all of them chatting excitedly.

Looking at their backs Peter couldn’t help but feel a bit down. He had never had friends like that, never been invited to eat out as a group of friends. He only had Harry, but his dad restricted his social activities in favor of tutoring and extra lessons.

‘I wish I could go with them, but I can’t. I have a responsibility I just can’t ignore. This Kingpin… the sooner I catch him, the sooner things can go back to normal. Well, as normal as it can be for a kid bitten by a radioactive spider…’

~ ~ ~

Fisk sat in his office, mulling over recent dealings. He was frustrated as plans he had didn’t go exactly how he wanted to. His frown deepened as he continued to think. 

‘How did the Maggia find out I was the one to take out Don Rigoletto? I made sure to make It look like the Fortunato’s put out the hit. Was I betrayed?’ Fisk thought as he clenched his fists, destroying the pen he was holding. Fisk let out a grunt before pressing a button on his desk that would call his secretary over. He waited for the door to open, and when it didn’t, Fisk got even more annoyed.

‘Incompetent wench. Time to look for a new secretary.’

Fisk pressed the button twice, but again received no answer. Fisk let out a snarl in anger, yelling out “Vanessa!” as he opened the door leading to his waiting room. Fisk was about to reprimand his assistant when he took stock of the room. Red drenched the walls and furniture as an open-mouthed Vanessa hung from the ceiling. Her stomach was cut open, yet the cause of death was a slit of the throat, from ear to ear. Fresh blood pooled under the hanging figure, creating a morbid contrast to the white marble tiles of the floor. 

Fisk let out a small breath. If he was surprised, he didn’t let it show. Instead, he calmly took out his phone and called 9-1-1. After reporting the crime, Fisk put away his phone and began talking.

“Such a shame. She was one of my favorites, knew how to handle ‘it’ well. But her best part… she was oh-so tight. You’ve done me a favor, actually. It won’t be so bad replacing her, she was starting to develop feelings.”

Kingpin laughed before talking into the air again. “I guess you didn’t like my gift? And here I thought you would be grateful. After all, I saved your brother from a life behind bars or from becoming a petty criminal for the rest of his life. Rest assured that he is in a better place… don’t you agree, Hobbie?”

A figure jumped from behind one of the couches to his left, lunging towards Kingpin. Fisk reacted by lifting his arms to shield his face as deep scratches tore his skin on his arms. The figure leapt back as Fisk grunted in pain before swiping in front of him, hoping to knock his assailant out. Fisk let down his bloodied arms to stare at the suited figure of the Prowler who stood in a readied stance.

The Prowler, otherwise knows as Hobbie Brown, panted heavily in rage as he stared down the Kingpin. 

‘Fuck, I needed to get him there while I had the drop on him. Now It’s going to be either tougher to kill him…’ thought Hobbie as he waited for the right opportunity to strike.

Kingpin laughed as he mocked the Prowler. “You missed your chance Brown. You had me defenseless, and you couldn’t kill me. I guess you didn’t want to avenge your brother that much? Well let me show you… the resolve to KILL!”

As he said that, Kingpin bull rushed his opponent. Prowler cursed before rolling to the side, using his suit to launch steel darts in the process. Kingpin once again raised his arms in defense as the darts penetrated his skin. Fisk grunted and pulled out the darts, dropping them to the floor. As he did that, Prowler had come in close to punch Kingpin, but Kingpin blocked it in time. Prowler went for another punch directed towards Fisk’s liver. The punch connected but Fisk looked unfazed. Hobbie again leapt back to avoid being hit by Kingpin. 

‘Looks like physical attacks like that won’t work. I’ll have to get in close and use my speed, just gotta make sure I don’t get cornered.’ Hobbie and Fisk analyzed their situation in this small reprieve. 

“It’s such a shame Brown. You could’ve been so much more”

Hobbie grit his teeth in anger as he snarled back, “Why did you do it Fisk? Why’d you kill him?” Kingpin smirked in return, enjoying the hurt that came from Hobbie’s voice.

“To teach you a lesson in pain. I’m the one in power here, I just had to make you realized that. Unfortunately, my lesson went right over your head and now… you’re dead!”

Kingpin grabbed the large couch and threw it towards Prowler. Hobbie reacted just in time by jumping over the spinning furniture and used it as leverage to launch himself forward. Kingpin swung his fist trying to hit him, but Prowler dodged to the side. Kingpin got more and more annoyed as Prowler dodged his attacks. Eventually, Fisk’s attacks slow down in fatigue.

Prowler saw this opportunity to take the initiative. He closed in, leaning his head down to avoid a punch and clawed at Fisk’s chest. Blood sprayed as the claws ripped skin and Kingpin let out an angry roar. Kingpin slammed down with his hands hoping to pummel Prowler, but Hobbie rolled to the side and used that opening to leave a gash on Kingpin’s back. Fisk cried out in pain as he dropped to one knee.

‘This is it!’ Thought Hobbie as he went in for the kill. He aimed his deadly claws towards Fisk’s nape and just as Prowler thought he would get his revenge, Kingpin spun quickly. 

‘Too fast!’ Thought Hobbie as he tried to dodge. However it was too late and Kingpin caught him by the throat. Hobbie tried to scream in pain as Kingpin squeezed his throat, choking him. The Prowler tried to pry himself free by using his claws to penetrate Fisk’s hand, which worked. Fisk cursed as Hobbie tried to move away.

“Not this time!” Snarled Kingpin. He reached out in time to grab the end’s of Prowler’s cape and pulled. Hobbie struggled but this time Kingpin wasn’t letting him have any chances. He brought down his powerful leg to crush his hands. 

“Aghhh!”

Hobbie screamed as his hands were broken. The Kingpin began to laugh as he picked up Prowler by the head and dragged him over to the window overlooking the city. Hobbie, half unconscious, tried to escape but it was no use. The Kingpin had him in his grasp and he wasn’t letting go. Well, not nicely anyway.

“It’s too bad Brown. You were a useful asset, you just wasn’t smart enough. You wanted to see your brother? Here, I’ll take you to him.”

With that Kingpin threw Prowler out the window, the broken glass and figure falling down one of the tallest buildings in New York. Fisk stared down as the figure shrunk from view, then scoffed and turned around. He calmly walked towards his untouched office and sat down on his chair. He paused for a second to catch a breather and pulled out a phone from his drawer. He dialed a number and after one short click, the phone was answered.

Fisk peaked back towards his lobby, towards the still hanging figure of Vanessa, and said one word.

“Begin.”

What the Kingpin of Crime didn’t know was that the Prowler survived. As he was falling from the high-rise his cape, which was made by a network of pneumatic filaments which expanded with air, turned rigid and allowed him to glide for a short while. Hobbie tried to spot a safe place to land as his descent slowed, but he passed out before he could. By miracle, Hobbie landed on a full dumpster, saving him from certain death.

It wouldn’t be until sometime that Hobbie would wake up, but his thirst for revenge would drive him stronger than ever.

~ ~ ~

“Nice! We scored big time. With this money, we can finally move out of here, find a new place to live.”

“But where are we gonna go? The Maggia is everywhere and if they find out we ditched they’re gonna kill us!”

The two thieves panted as they hid in an alley. They had just robbed an ATM machine and had ran over two miles to finally rest easy. Just as they thought they were safe, out favorite spider-themed hero spotted them.

“You know, I hear Jersey is just the perfect place for people like you. No offense.”

The criminals jumped in fright as they scattered backwards. They looked up to find Spider-Man standing horizontally on the wall above them.

“You-You’re that Spider guy, aren’t you?”

Peter rubbed his hand behind his head. “Aww, you know about little ol’ me? I’m flattered!” And with that, Spider-Man jumped from the wall in a front flip. He landed on the ground in front of the pair as they tried to run away, only to realize that their backs were to the wall. Peter didn’t give them a chance to escape as he webbed the first guy to the wall. The second thief ran up to Peter to hit him, but he was knocked down when Peter jumped up and delivered an axe kick. Peter winced as the thug hit the ground face first.

“Whoa, sorry there man. I still can’t control my strength as well as I’d like.”

“M-m-murderer! You killed my brother!”

Peter patted the gut webbed to the wall. “Relax tough guy, he’s just unconscious, which is good for him because I have some questions for you.” The criminal gulped as sweat began to form despite the cool night air. The man seemed to have a stuttering problem as he asked, “W-well, what do y-you want to k-know?”

Peter sighed and sat down next to the guy. He lifted his mask up to his nose as he aimed his hand above him and sent a web line. He pulled after making contact and the thug watched in amazement as a pizza box came falling from the sky. Peter caught the closed box rubbed his hands together in glee.

“Hehe, it’s time to meet you fate, pizza. Mmm, oh yeah, that hits the spot.”

Peter grabbed another slice from his pizza and paused just as he was about to take a bite. He turned to the thief and they both shared a look. Peter shrugged before standing up and offered the slice to the thief. The thief nodded and Pete ripped out the webbing on the man’s hands to allow him to move, and then gave him the slice. The thug happily ate it as Spider-Man sat back down to enjoy the rest of the slices.

A few minutes passed in pure bliss like that. On his last slice, Peter burped and blushed in embarrassment.

“My bad, I was really hungry you know? I was about to eat when I heard you down there. You know this is my 24th crime I’ve stopped these past 3 hours? It’s like, the criminal hive is buzzing for some reason.” Peter turned to the thief who was staring nervously back at Peter. “And you’re gonna tell me why.”

“Look Spidey, all I know is that this Kingpin killed the head of the Rigoletto’s, Don Rigoletto. He tried to make it look like Fortunato’s people did it and we did. Well, until this weird guy in a motorcycle helmet gave the Silvermanes surveillance footage of Kingpin killing Don Rigoletto and seeting the whole place on fire!”

‘A motorcycle helmet? That has to be Overdrive! So Kingpin caused the great fire and Overdrive exposed him? But I thought he was working for the Maggia? If he knew this would happen, why wouldn’t he stop it?’

The thug paused as he saw that Spider-Man was in deep thought. He waited in silence, nervously looking over to his brother every once in a while. Finally, Peter asked another round of questions.

“Do you know who Kingpin is?”

The thief shook his head vigorously. “N-no one knows who he is. Well, at least non of us low-level members.”

Peter decided to trust the thief and asked his last question. “Where can I find Overdrive? Uh, the motorcycle guy?”

“(His name’s Overdrive?)I-I think he goes to The Bar With No Name a lot. He might be there r-right now.”

Peter rose an eyebrow. ‘What kinda name is that?’

“Where’s this… Bar With No Name” Said Peter using quotation marks with his fingers sarcastically.

“Well, The Bar changes location every now and then. Sometimes it’s an actual bar, sometimes it’s a homeless camp under a bridge. The only thing that always stays the same is The Rule. You see, The Bar With No Name prohibits any type of fighting between anyone, no matter what. All types of criminals got there as a sanctuary, and if you break the rule they break you!”

Peter listened in interest as he tried to imagine what a bar like that would look like. ‘Well, only one way to find out’.

“So, where is it today?”

The thug shrugged. “I haven’t been there in a while. Last time I checked, it was on 13th and 3rd Street.”

Peter nodded slowly. “13th and 3rd… I know where that is. Thanks buddy, I’ll make sure to treat you nicely if I have to catch you again. Oh, almost forgot.”

The thief let out crocodile tears as he was webbed to the wall again with his brother in tow. Before leaving, Peter left a nice note stuck to the webs for the police to find. It read: “Courtesy of your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (Don’t forget the hyphen!).”

Spider-Man swung from building to building, heading to where (hopefully!) the Bar With No Name was located. As he swung, Peter yawned and and let out another burp.

‘Man, I really shouldn’t have eaten all those slices. Hmm… can’t help but feel like I’m forgetting something very important… Oh well. If I can’t remember it, it probably wasn’t that important, right?’

Oh boy…

Twenty minutes later, Spider-Man arrived at what looked like a suspiciously guarded building. Peter stuck above their lines of sight and tried to spot an entrance. However, no matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t find a vent or something to sneak into.

‘Guess I’ll have to wait. Man, I could really use some headphones right now.’

An hour passed by as Peter observed from the roof of a nearby building. In that time he had spotted all kinds of people. There were ordinary people (or as ordinary as criminals looked like), people that looked like goons (uniform and all!), and just straight up weird looking people in costumes (not like I’m one to judge!), but still no Overdrive.

‘Huh, guess he already left and I’m just unlucky. I’ll come back tomorrow, see if I can catch him coming out this time. Maybe I can… hold up, that’s him!’ Thought Peter as jumped from his make-shift hammock made out of webs. His target, Overdrive was leaving the building with his hands on his pockets and whistling a tune, which was muffled since he was still wearing that tinted helmet. ‘Who wears sunglasses in the night? Sure, they’re not sunglasses, but still… what a douche.’

Overdrive walked merrily across the street where a regular car was sitting there. Spidey watched as Overdrive looked left and right before Overdrive touched the car. ‘Oh yeah, here we go.’ Thought Peter as he jumped into action.

Overdrive finished transforming the car and was just about to get in it when his hand was webbed to the car. Overdrive jumped in fright as Spidey landed right in front of him on the roof of the car.

“Hey Overdrive, It’s me! Nice car, it’s a lot different than the one you used before… Wait, is this even your car? That’s just sad…” Peter tutted as he shook his head. 

“Spider-Man! What a surprise. Not!” And with that, Overdrive used his powers to morph the car into a motorcycle. Peter fell down in surprise as what he was standing on disappeared. Overdrive laughed as he hopped into the motorcycle, hand now webbed to one of the handles. Peter managed to land oh his feet just as Overdrive was about to speed off.

“No you don’t, not this time!” exclaimed Spider-Man as he lunged to catch Overdrive. However, Peter wasn’t fast enough and only managed to touch Overdrives shoulder as the man in a supped-up vehicle sped off. Peter heard as Overdrive laughed mockingly over the distance.

“Yeah yeah, laugh all you want, but I got you.”

When he touched Overdrive’s shoulder, he had stuck to him one of his new Spidey-Trackers. Peter chuckled, he didn’t even have to chase the guy!

‘Well, if they work that is. Yeah, let’s hope they work.’

Peter jumped on top of a building and after looking at the night sky, decided that it was time to go home. It took him 15 minutes (one more heroic action to close the night off) to reach his house and by that time, Peter was dead on his feet. He had never worked so much in his life, and it seemed that tonight might not be a special case anymore in terms of criminal activity. 

Peter sneaked into the side of the house until he reached his bedroom window. He peaked inside to make sure Aunt May wasn’t there before he slowly pulled open the window to not make any noise. As soon as he could fit through the window, Peter climbed into his room and changed into his pajamas.

‘The tracker has limited battery so I can only activate it and deactivate it. I’m going to have to get more money to make it better, which means I might have to get a job. Ugh, I’ll think about this in the morning, I’m too tired’ thought Peter as he yawned. He made sure to hide his costume and when everything was ready, he laid down on his bed. 

‘Hmm, I feel like I forgot something? Oh well…’ And with that, Peter went to sleep with dreams of Gwen Stacy and food.

Unbeknown to him, a major event just happened. Across the window from his room, on his neighbor’s house a girl stared slack-jawed. The usually empty room had a new occupant, something Peter really should have remembered.

Mary Jane Watson stared as Spider-Man sneaked into her neighbor’s room… her new neighbor Peter Parker’s room…

Oh boy.


End file.
